


Feel Connected

by xDinahQueenx



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-09-20
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDinahQueenx/pseuds/xDinahQueenx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"The truth was, with everyone else busy, and despite the quiet he craved, the closeness was nice."</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feel Connected

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I don't know, just an idea that came to me. Pre-slash.

Hotch listened to the rest of the team as they played cards, sequestered in one of the parts in the jet where the seats faced one another and there was a table between them. They were gambling for pretzels, and judging by the way that the others were grumbling, he was certain JJ was cleaning them out. Reid wasn't playing as he'd long since wandered over to the long section of seating near the back of the plane, where Hotch was reviewing a case file. He'd been curled on one end, reading a book, the pages rustling like he was just flipping through. Hotch turned the page on his case file and made a note, and then froze when he felt Reid lay his head in his lap. Clearly, the younger man was sleeping, Hotch could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, and his eyes fluttering beneath the lids in the midst of a dream. Hotch watched, for several quiet moments, before he untensed and went back to reading his file. 

The truth was, with everyone else busy, and despite the quiet he craved, the closeness was nice. Since Haley and himself had divorced he hadn't really had that. Hotch would have liked to say it didn't bother him, but the truth was, he'd been with Haley since he had been a teenager, and years and years of being with the same person, that sort of casual intimacy, despite the way it'd broke down in the end, it had become normal. He had a good poker face and looking perpetually angry and frustrated- which he often _felt_ was a deterrent for being approached. Dating was hardly an option between his job and then, after Haley had been murdered, watching Jack. Jessie would have done it, Hotch knew, but it was simpler this way. 

Hotch flipped another page in the file, focusing on that, as he heard Emily playfully insult JJ as she won another pot of pretzels. "This is why I never go to Atlantic City..." Rossi grumbled a little. And JJ laughed, along with Derek. 

"Maybe you guys would prefer to play 'Go Fish'?" JJ asked. Derek laughed again while Rossi grumbled a little lower, inarticulate to Hotch, who was far enough away that the sound of the plane distorted it. He made another note in his file and then set it aside, grabbing a book to read instead... something far away from the cases he worked and the life he led. 

Almost without a conscious thought, Hotch laid his hand down, fingers pushing through Reid's short hair. Reid made a noise in his sleep, shifting and twitching a bit, though he didn't wake. He sighed quietly, seeming pleased, and settled back in to sleep. Hotch slid his hand down over to Reid's neck, cupping the soft, warm skin there, fingers pressing against a steady pulse, and he closed his eyes briefly. 

Sometimes, it was nice to have reassurance, that the people he was close to, the family he had chose, were real and solid and alive; something that was concrete, something that was tangible. So he pressed his fingers over Reid's pulse point, then slid to touch his adam's apple, feeling how he swallowed in his sleep and breathed. Hotch moved his hand back into Reid's hair and closed his eyes again, just feeling, tipping his head back against the cushion of the seat. 

The warmth of Reid's breath spilling out over his thigh, making the fabric of his slacks feel damp and hot was just as poignant a feeling as the soft curls of hair around his fingers, and the warmth beneath his fingertips. Hotch's world had been on tilt lately and there was something steadying and almost peaceful in this experience. Feeling, instead of thinking. He wasn't sleeping, but he was relaxed, and he stayed that way until Reid's breathing shifted and the younger man was waking up. Hotch had to contain the desire to jerk back like he'd been burned, and he simply resumed reading his book, while Reid worked on waking up beside him. 

"They're still playing?" Reid asked Hotch, who nodded in agreement. 

"I am sure they'll deal you in if you're interested in playing," Hotch informed him, turning the page in his book. He felt Reid move towards the arm of the bench again, grabbing one of the pillows from the overhead compartment. Hotch swallowed and took a risk.

"I... it's alright if you lean on me, it's probably more comfortable that way. Lay back down, we still have an hour or so until we land," Hotch offered, trying to pretend his heart wasn't hammering in his chest. Reid watched him for a moment, hazel eyes intense and scrutinizing, before he made a nervous little shrugging type motion and laid the pillow down next to Hotch's leg. He shifted and laid down again, not quite as close as before. Hotch turned the page in his book again and then laid his hand over Reid's eyes, blocking out the light coming in through the window. 

"It is alright, sleep." Hotch felt Reid relax more beside him, shifting to put his head back on Hotch's thigh, and Hotch kept his hand over Reid's eyes until he felt his breathing even out again. Hotch returned to his book, turned the page again, and stared at the words he wasn't reading. 

As the sudden realization that he had feelings for his subordinate trickled in, the words on the pages blurred. He supposed he'd have to figure a way to deal with it, eventually. Perhaps Reid would never notice. So this would just be a one-time thing, a deviation from normal behavior, that neither he nor Reid would bring up again. 

Hotch figured, then, that it would be best if he just enjoyed the moment as it was. He closed the book and set it aside, hand returning to pet Reid's hair, over his throat, fingers ghosting over pale, smooth skin. He breathed in, then out, and stayed like that- silent and connected- for the rest of the flight.


End file.
